


pietro and wanda.

by porcelainsimplicity



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-29
Updated: 2016-03-29
Packaged: 2018-05-29 19:32:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6390295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/porcelainsimplicity/pseuds/porcelainsimplicity
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>when they were children, their mother and father had encouraged their closeness.</p>
            </blockquote>





	pietro and wanda.

i. 

When they were children, their mother and father had encouraged their closeness. Neither of them had siblings, so for Pietro and Wanda to each have one was a blessing to them. It never occurred to anyone that treating them as individuals and not a pair would be a good idea. It was never "Pietro!" or "Wanda!" but always "Pietro and Wanda!" They were a singular entity, a duo that couldn't be separated because they never had to be. Their closeness alienated certain potential friends at school or in the park. It made teachers try to separate them by seating them on opposite sides of the classroom. But they didn't care about potential friends because they already had each other, and the teachers' plans never lasted long. Pietro would get so restless that he was constantly interrupting class and Wanda's mind wandered to the point where she could go entire classes without hearing a word that was said. In the end, they were placed next to each other at the back of the classroom and Pietro was calm and Wanda was focused. 

The other children thought they were weird and called them names. Pietro and Wanda ignored them.

ii. 

When they were pulled out of the rubble after the bombing, they refused to let go of each other. Paramedics had to examine them around each other to make sure they weren't hurt, finally convincing them to limit their contact to simple handholding until they could get the examination over with. When they were asked where their parents were, they both pointed to the gigantic hole in the side of the apartment building. Then they were taken to social services and they refused to give their names until the worker promised them she wouldn't separate them. Only then did they disclose that they were Pietro and Wanda Maximoff, and then the worker immediately knew she had trouble. Her son was the same age and had come home on multiple occasions talking about the weird twins in his class. It took almost three weeks to find a family that would take them both, and when the paperwork was finalized, it didn't go into individual files. It went into one single file labeled "Pietro and Wanda Maximoff."

Their new foster siblings thought they were weird and called them names. Pietro and Wanda ignored them. 

iii. 

The first time their foster father raised a hand against Wanda, Pietro quickly stepped in front of her and took the slap instead. Later that night, when they were sure foster mother was sleep and foster father was passed out drunk, they shoved everything important to them into two rucksacks and carefully opened the window in the room. They tossed the rucksacks onto the grass below then climbed out the window and made their way down. Once they picked up the rucksacks, they linked hands and started to run. They'd already made the decision not to go back to social services. This was foster family number eight, and the sixth one they had to escape from because of abuse. They were fourteen now, they reasoned, and they could take care of themselves better than any foster family ever had. They made their way into the city and went up-and-down alleys before deciding to sleep in the park. And that was how the children found them the next morning, curled together on the merry-go-round. It became a common sight that summer, children waking them up so they could play. "Pietro and Wanda!" they would call. Two names for one thing, the thing that was keeping them from playing. 

The adults and children thought they were weird. The adults whispered and the children called them names. Pietro and Wanda ignored the children, but couldn't quite ignore the adults.

iv. 

They were seventeen years old when they volunteered themselves for the project Baron von Strucker was working on. They asked that they never be separated, but were told that was not possible. So they asked to be kept as close to each other as possible, and so they were given cells next to each other. And that's what they were, cells in the hell they found themselves trapped in. Every scream Pietro made sent shivers down Wanda's spine. Every cry of pain from Wanda had Pietro beating at the glass and begging to be taken to her. When they were both in their cells, they curled up in the corners closest to one another, petting the wall and pretending it was each other. When they were finally let into one another's presence again, Wanda danced scarlet around them before Pietro sped her around the room. They were it, the only ones to survive the experiments, and they were called collectively the twins. Never Pietro, never Wanda, never Pietro and Wanda. Just the twins. 

The people at the castle found the closeness and need for each other weird and whispered about them. Pietro and Wanda couldn't ignore these whispers, but they didn't try to distance themselves from each other either.

v. 

When they arrived back at Avengers Tower after the battle, Wanda sat in the med bay next to Pietro's body. One of his hands hung limply off the side of the stretcher, and Wanda linked her fingers with his, sobbing when his didn't curl around hers. She stayed there for hours, crying, until Vision came up to her and said one simple word. "Wanda." She knew how to be a part of Pietro and Wanda. She knew how to be a part of the twins. She did not know how to be just Wanda.

Vision did not find her closeness with her brother weird, she gathered from his mind. Nor did he want to call them names or whisper about them. Instead Wanda found that Vision was thinking of her and Pietro separately and a pain went through her when she realized that's what they were now. He was Pietro and she was Wanda.

There was no more Pietro and Wanda.


End file.
